Former GM of Ang Mo Kio Town Council charged with Corruption

The former general manager of Ang Mo Kio Town Council, Wong Chee Meng, 58, has been charged with 55 counts of corruption involving S$107,000 today (14 March).

Take a guess what form the bribes came in:

Wong Chee Meng, 58, ex-GM of Ang Mo Kio Town Council

Splurging on KTV lounges, expensive meals, Geylang “spa treatments”, and even remittances to his mistress in China.

Earlier today, Wong was charged with accepting bribes from the director and shareholder of two building and construction firms, Chia Sin Lan, 62.

He accepted the bribes in exchange for “advancing business interests” of Chia’s firms,19-ANC Enterprise and 19-NS2 Enterprise, with his influence in the town council.

According to court documents, over the course of three years, Chia spent around $49,377 entertaining Wong at KTV lounges.

He also paid for expensive meals, and even paid $1,070 for Wong’s Geylang “spa treatment” (get our drift?😏)

Furthermore, Chia even wired around $30,000 to Wong’s mistress in China, and conspired with a car salesman to give Wong a $13,500 discount on the price of a Toyota Corolla Altis.

Toyota Corolla Altis

Wong has been charged with 55 counts of corruptly accepting gratification, while Chia was also charged with 54 charges of corruptly giving gratification and one count of abetment.

Additionally, Chia’s two companies each face one charge of corruption each for “giving (Wong) gratification as an inducement to advance the business interests” of the company.

Investigations into the corruption started in 2016 by the Corrupt Practices Investigations Bureau (CPIB) in 2016 after the town council received a complaint about “the way [Wong] handles contracts and dealings in the town council”.

Wong and Chia intend to claim trial and are out on $100,000 bail each. Their passports have been impounded, and their case will be heard on April 11.

In court on Wednesday, lawyers for both men and the companies said they had been instructed to challenge all charges.

If convicted, they each could be fined up to $100,000 and jailed for up to seven years, or both, on each charge.